The Key Steps of A Successful Painting
Nov 03, 2021When you paint in watercolor, you are painting in reverse. And what I mean by that is you are painting your lightest values to your darkest values. Therefore, it is essential to have a plan for each phase of your painting. In today’s video, I talk about the goals to keep in mind as you progress through the three phases of your painting.
I remember back to when I was first starting to paint, I would want to paint all my values in the first wash. There is a tendency to do this because you want your painting to look like something right away. And when you're just painting your lightest values and colors are kind of blending into each other, it doesn't really look like anything.
One of the hardest parts is being patient and trusting your plan.
In your first wash, I recommend that you create your composition with a drawing, and then wet down both sides of your paper with a sponge before you begin painting. The goal of this phase is to cover the whole sheet with your lightest values, preserving the white of the paper for the really bright parts of your painting. This is just an abstract way of painting, and shouldn’t look like anything yet.
You will want to come prepared to your second wash. The goal here is to create your large connected middle value shape that will lay over the top of your first wash. Often, I will do a value study beforehand that helps me see what this connected shape will look like.
If I’m splitting my values up from zero to ten, my first wash will be 0 - 3, my middle values would be 4 - 7, and my darks are 8-10. I say one large middle value shape, but there are still variations of values within that middle value shape.
The reason why this phase is so challenging is because you have a lot to think about simultaneously: values, edges, texture, and switching color. So it is important that you have a plan which starts with that value study. You can also pre-mix your colors or even load up two or three brushes before you move into this phase. Any strategy that sets you up to think less and execute more is better.
So our middle value shape was all about finding connection. The final phase is about giving your painting the details it needs to feel finished and provide the dark values to really make the light values pop. With these darks and details, you begin to create some separations. Your cars start to look more like cars and your figures come to life and your scene comes together as a whole.
When I paint, I don't want to always spell everything out for the viewer. I think something that makes a painting interesting is leaving a little bit of mystery. Be mindful of what your painting needs and not necessarily just of what you enjoy painting or what you want to paint.
Take some time and think about your preferences. Do you want it to be more defined? Do you want it to be more loose and open to interpretation? These are the choices that you need to make when you are in the final stage of your painting.
Remember how each phase of your painting adds on to the others, have a plan in mind for your painting, and keep in mind the goal of each wash. If you can do this, you're going to paint much stronger paintings.
And I wanted to mention, if you haven't seen my free video lesson, Eight Tips to Avoid Overworking your Painting, take a look at it here. I've gotten some great feedback from this video lesson, and it's been very helpful to solve a big problem that I have had to deal with and that is overworking my paintings.
I hope that you found this information helpful.
Keep practicing, keep pushing forward, and I'll see you next time.
-Matt